Wire wrapping machine



April 16, 1935. c. A. CALDES WIRE WRAPPING MACHINE Filed April 20, 1934 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR Co/vs m/vr/NEA-. (1440515 ATTORN EYS April 16, 1935.. 'Q, A CALDES 1,99%2

WIRE WRAPPING MACHINE Filed April 20, 1934 4 Sheets-Sheet INVENTOR Q CO/VJ ran/771v: A (344055.

ATTORNEYS April 16, 1935 c, A. CALDES WIRE WRAPPING MACHINE Filed April 20, 1934 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 A ril 16, 1935. c. A. CALDES WIRE WRAPPING MACHINE 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed April 20, 1934 INVENTOR CO/VJTANWNEA. C44 055.

. ATTORNEYS Patented Apr. 16, 1935 UNITED, STATES PATENT OFFICE WIREWRAPPING MACHINE "Application April 20, 1934, Serial No. 721,457

12 Claims.

My invention relates to apparatus for winding insulating material simultaneously about two or more wires to be later assembled into a cable having two or more separate insulated conductors.

Heretofore when a cable was to be built up by assembling two or more individual insulated conductors, each conductor has-been wrappedpwith insulating material such as paper strip separately on a separate machine, and two or more of these wrapped conductors were then assembled into a cable on a separatemachine. This required repeated handling of the separate conductors, once for each wrapping of each conductor, and then .a separate handling during the assembly, and required a correspondingly extensive apparatus.

; An object of my present invention is to provide a single machine in which two or more wires may be wrapped with insulating material separately and individually and assembled into a cable which may be again covered or wrapped with insulating material.

In simultaneously wrapping the two wires with paper or similarstrip material, it is necessary,

I v if the strip for either wire becomes broken, that wrapped uninsulatecl wire will; continue, thereby:

using wire and insulating wrapping material-to produce-a cable having an 'uninsulated or defective conductor and which is, therefore, worthless. Accordingly, a further object of my invention is to provide means whereby the apparatus will be instantly stopped upon the breakage of insulation supply to either of the several Wires being wrapped.

Further objects and'featureslof the invention are to provide means for ironing the strip as it is wrapped about the wires, and to provide simple effective means for maintaining the required tautness on the material being wrapped.

} The various features of the invention are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which-#- Fig. 1 is a front elevation of a wrapping machine embodying a preferred form of the invention.

Fig. 2 is a detail plan yiew of a part of the control mechanism for stopping themachine.

Fig. 3 is a detail elevation of means actuated v by the breaking of strip to actuate the stopping means.

Fig. 4 is a .detail elevation, partly in section about the respective wires l2 and I3. The platand on a larger scale, of the'wrappingm echanism.

Fig. 5 is a detail plan view of the mechanism shown in Fig. 4. I

Figs. 6 and '7 are, respectively, cross sectional and longitudinal sectional views of a tensioning spring for the strip material.

Fig. 8 is a vertical detail view of the mechanism shown inFig. 4 takenvfrom the left of Fig. 4.-

Figs. 9 and 10 are detail views taken from the same directions as Figs. 8 and 4, respectively, of strip guides serving to'actuate a stopping means upon breakage of the strip, and

Fig. 11 is a detail view of an ironing element 16 to secure a smooth uniform surface on the strip wrapped about the conductor wires.

The multiple wrapping mechanism of the present invention may be applied to assembling machines of various types. In the particular em? 20 bodiment shown by way of illustration in the accompanying drawings, a pair of wires l2 and l3 s are drawn upwardly from any suitable source below the base of the machine, then pass over guide pulleys 4 and I5 and through a central 25 guide I6 which brings the wires together in position' to be wrapped with an outer covering. The wires then pass upwardly through the supporting framework ll of the apparatus .and through a knitting mechanism l8 of any suitable type shown conventionally as mounted on the top of the frame l1. Thereafter the assembled cable .|9 passes upwardly over an idler pulley 20 to the winding apparatus.

'In the upward passage of the wires l2 and I3 they first pass through individual rotating sleeves 2|, Fig. '4, rotatably supported by means of ball bearings 22 on bosses 23 of a supporting platform 24. Also mounted on the bearings 22 and rotating with the sleeves 2| are-the hubs of horizontal gears 25 and 26, respectively, for the wires l2 and I3. The gears 25 and 26 also carry platforms 21 and 28, respectively, which rotate with the gears and carry the strip to be wrapped forms 21 and 28 are secured in a unitary assembly with the sleeves 2|, the platform 21 and the gears 25 by means of collars 29 and 30 enclosing the upper ends of the sleeves 2| and secured a ainst the upper surfaces of the plat- 0 form 28 by any suitable means such as a setscrew 3|. j The gears 25 and 26 are simultaneously rotated in the same-angular direction by means of a drive gear 32 between and meshing with the gears 25 and 26 'and,jin turn, supported on a rotatable shaft 83 which is driven through the bevel gears 34 and 85, shaft 38, bevel gears 81 and 38, shaft 39, bevel gears 48 and 4| (Fig. 1) from a main drive shaft 42. The main drive shaft 42 may be driven from any suitable source such as the belt 43and pulley 44 through a clutch 45 or other disconnecting mechanism.

The platforms 2! and 28 carry uprights and 41 respectively upon which are rotatably mounted spools 48 and 49 of strip material to be" wrapped about the wires l2 and I3 respectively. A length of strip 58 and5l, respectively, is led from the spools 48 and 48 to the surface of the wires I2 and I8, first passing through respective eyelet guides 52 and 58 which serve to guide the strip to a quarter turn so that it will lie flat against the surface of the wire. When, therefore, the main driving shaft 42 is in motion and rotates the platforms 21 and 28, the strip 58 and 5| passing from the reels 48 and 48 respectively to the wires l2 and I8 are caused to wrap about their respective wires and as,w these wires are drawn upwardly at the proper speed to form a continuous spiral insulating covering for the wires. Suitable tension 'is applied to the reels 48 and 48 by means of tensioning wires 54 and 55 to cause the strips to wrap with'the required tautness about the wires and to avoid excessive tautness such as would cause breakage of the strip. During the wrapping of the respective strips about their respective wires they are pressed to the required thickness and smoothed by means of ironing plates 58 and 51 mounted on plates 58 and respectively mounted on posts 88 and 8| projecting upwardly from the respective rotating tables 21 and 28. The ironing plates 58 and 51 are bent, as indicated in Fig. 11, so as accurately to position the wrapped wires with respect to their-on.

The lower ends of the eyelets 52 and 58 are secured to and support one of the ends of weighted levers 82 and 88 fulcrumed respectively on the posts 88 and 8| in such a manner that should of a tension spring II.

either of the strips 58 or 5h break in passing from the spools or reels 48 or 4840 the wires l2 or l3, the weights 84 or of the respective lever would drop, being no longer supported by the strip, thereby throwing the opposite end of the lever 83 upwardly and projecting a trip rod 88 or 81 upwardly through an opening in the plate 58 into a position to actuate a clutch throw-out or drive stopping device supported immediately above the plates 58. The actuating mechanism for throwing out the clutch 45, or otherwise stop ping the machine, is so positioned above, the trip rods 88 and 81 that aslthe latter rotate with the tables 21 and 28, they pass beneath the actuating mechanism. "when the rods 88 and 81 are pushed upwardly, however; because of the breakage of the strips 58 or 5|, they strike against the actuating mechanism and displace the latter and, in this displacement, serve to throw out the clutch. The clutch throwout or stopping mechanism comprises a branches lever-88 pivoted to swing horizontally on a bracket 89 of the frame I! and held resiliently against a stop 18 by means The lever 88 is provided with two branches I2 and 18 from which contact pins 14 and I5'project horizontally above the rotating plates 58 and 59 at a sufficient height to permit the upper end of the trip rods 88 and 81 to pass beneath the rods 14 and 15, as indicated in Fig. 1, when the levers 82 and 88 are in normal position but suiilciently close to the plates 58 and 58 that when either of the levers 82 or 83 is tilted by its respective weight 84 or 85 upon breakage of the strip 58 or 5|, therod 88 or 81 will be projected upwardly to a suillcient height to engage the rods 14, 15, as indicated in Fig. 3, during the rotation of the tables 21 or 28. As the respective trip rod 88 or 81 engages its respective rod I4 or 15, it swings the rod and the branched lever 58 counter-clockwise against the pivot of the lever. As the lever swings counter-clockwise, it engages and displaces the lower arm of a lever 18 pivoted on a bracket on the frame I! and held resiliently against the branched lever 88 by means of a spring TI. The upper end of the lever 18 is notched, as at 18, to receive a latch pin 18 of a vertical lever 88 which is resiliently held 'against the latch by means of a spring 8| between the lever 88 and bracket 82 on the frame l1. When the lever 18 is tilted counter-clockwise by a counter-clockwise rotation of the lever 88, the upper notched end I8 is lowered, permitting the pin "to escape and permitting the lever 88 to be drawn clockwise.

The upper end ofthe lever 88 engages a hori- 'zontal lever 82, rotating the latter counter-clockwise when viewed in the direction of Fig. 2 and thereby disconnecting the clutch 45 through a link 88 connected to the opposite end of the lever 82.

It will thus be apparent that should either of the strips 58 or 5| break, itsrespective trip rod will immediately engage a pin of the trip lever 88 before completion of a revolution of the tables a 21 and 28 and thereby swing the latch lever 18 and permit the spring 5| to throw the lever 88 to position to disengage the clutch. To again start the machine, the broken end of the strip must be secured to the surface of its respective wire so as to support the weight 84 or 85 and hold the respective trip rod in disengaged position.

Then, upon throwing the clutch leversf88 and 82 tain the required tension on the strips so and 54..

In the form of the invention shown in Figs. 4, 6, 7 and 8, this tension is provided by a spring 54. 55, the lower end of which is formed into a cylinder 84 having end plates 85 and 88 and supported by a shaft 81 extending through-the end plates '85 and 88, the plate. being rotatable relative to the cylinder and mounted in bracket bearings 88 and 88 a A coil spring 88 is positioned within the cylinder 84 and about the shaft 81 and one end 9| of this spring engages the cylinder 84, the other end being secured in the end plate 88. The plate 88 is rotated to wind the spring to the desired tension and then is held against unwinding by -means of a pin 82 which may be inserted in any one of several radial sockets 98 and may rest against the base of the plate ZLor 28.

It will be understood that after the wires have been wrapped and brought together by passing through the guide |8.'a strip of paper 84, or other material, drawn from a roll 85 may be folded about the assembled wires before they are covered by the fabric formed from the knitting elements |8. It will also be understood that when the clutch 45 disengages the main shaft 42 from the driving pulley 44, that the feeding of wire will also be stopped through any suitable mech- 1. A wire wrapping apparatus which comprises means to draw a plurality of wires simultaneously to assembled position, means to wrap strip helically about-said wires individually as they pass gto assembled position to form a continuous covering, and means to assemble said wires to a unitary structure after being placed inassembled position.

-2. A wire wrapping apparatus which comprises means to draw a plurality of wires simultaneously to assembled position, means to wrap strip helically about said wires individually as they pass to assembled position to form a continuous covering, means to assemble said wires to a unitary'structure after being placed in assembled position, and means. to stop said wrapping mechanism upon the breakage of a strip passing to any of said wires.

3. A wire wrapping apparatus which comprises means to draw a plurality of wires simultaneously to assembled position, means to wrap strip helically about said wires individually as they pass to assembled position to form a conl j tinuous covering, means to assemble said wires\ to a unitary structure after being placed in as sembled position, and means to iron and presssaid wrapped strip individually to a predetermined thickness on its respective wire.

4. A wire wrapping apparatus which comprises means to draw a plurality of wires simultaneously to assembled position, means to rotate individually supplies of strip material about said wires and to feed strip to said wires to wrap it about said wires as they pass to assembled position to form a continuous covering for said wires, means to assemble said wires, and means to stop said wrap ping mechanism upon the breakage of said strip supply to said wires.

5. A wire wrapping apparatus which comprises means to draw a plurality of wires simultaneously .to assembled position, means to rotate individually supplies of strip material about said wires to. wrap strips of said material about said wires as they pass to assembled position to form a continuous covering for said wires, means to assemble said wires after being wrapped, means to stop said wrapping mechanism upon the breakage of strip from either of said strip supplies to its respective wire, said stopping mechanism comprising a trip mechanism supported by strip passing from its respective supply to wire and rotating with said supply about said wire, and a lever mechanism positioned to be engaged by said trip mechanism when the latter is unsupported and free from said trip inechanism when the latter is supported.

6. A wire wrapping apparatus which comprises means to draw a plurality of wires simultaneously to assembled position, means to rotate individually supplies of strip material about said' wires to wrap strips of said material about said wires as they pass to assembled position to form a con.- tinuous covering for said wires, means to assemble said wires after being wrapped, means to stop said wrapping mechanism upon the breakage oi strip from either of said strip supplies to its respective wire, said stopping mechanism comprising a tripmechanism supported by strip passing from its respective supply to a wire and rotating with said supply about said wire, a lever mecha-.

-spring.

ii. A wire wrapping apparatus :which com nism positioned to be engaged by s trip mechanism when the latter is unsuppo ed ,and tree from said trip mechanism when the latter is supported, and a clutch disengaging mechanism I actuated by the movement of said lever.

7. A wire wrapping apparatus which comprisesmeans to draw a plurality of wires simultaneously to assembled position, rotating tables, one for each of said wires rotatable about the axes of said wires, means torotate said tables simultaneously, and strip supply means mounted on said tables. h

8. A wire wrapping apparatus which comprises means to draw a plurality of wires simultaneously to assembled position, rotating tables, one for each of said wires rotatable about the axes of'said wires, means to'rotate said tables simultaneously, strip supply means mounted on said tables, trip mechanisms, one for each bf said supply means and mounted on its respective table, said tri'p mechanism being held against rotation by strip passing from said supply to its respective wire and released upon breakage of said strip, and means actuated by the release of said trip mechanism to stop the rotation, of said tables.

9; A wire wrapping apparatus which comprises meansto draw a plurality of wires simultaneously to assembled position, rotating tables, one for each of said wires rotatable about the axes of said wires, means to rotate said tables simultaneously, strip supply means mountedon said tables, trip mechanisms, one for each of said tables comprising a pivoted weighted lever, a strip eyelet and a trip pin, andmeans for stopping the rotation of said tables comprising lever mechanisms ongaged in released position by said clutch moved through said lever.

10. A wire wrapping apparatus which comprises means todraw a plurality of wires simultaneously to assembled position, rotating tables, one for each of said wires rotatable about the axes of said wires, means to rotate said tables simultaneously, strip supply means mounted on said tables, and means for tensioning strip on said supply, said tensioning means comprising a spring, and means for adjusting the tension of said v 35 pins, and a prises means to draw'a. plurality oi wires simultaneously to assembled position, rotating tables,

one for each of said wires rotatable about the v A axes of said wires, means to rotate said tables simultaneously, strip supply means mounted on said tables, and means closely spaced to said wire where said strip is being wrapped to press and iron said strip against said wire.

12. Trip mechanism for wire wrapping machines which comprises a rotating table having an opening for the passage of wire, a strip sup-' ting means on said table, a, weighted between said supply and said wire, a. trip pin mov able to actuatingfposition by the release of said weight, an actuating lever mounted above said trip pin to be free from the latter. when said weight is supported and to be engaged and tilted by said trip pin when the latter is moved by said weight, and means actuated by said trip lever to stop the rotation of said table.

CONSTANTINE A; canons. 

